Anime ATM 94 3-gatsu no Lion {March Comes in like a Lion}

Oh man oh man. I sure didn't think I was going to be watching anime for a while. In fact I had pretty much given up on the idea that I would be watching any for a while, forever chained to my desk to study and make my parents proud and so on and so forth. But to my surprise, I found myself starting this quarter off with a bit of time on my hands. Throughout this time without anime I've been thinking about what exactly I should be watching. Lots of people had been recommending me Boku no Hero Academia and I'm sure it's wonderful. And lots of other anime and anime movies to watch. However, something just called me to watch this anime. It's sure been a while since I've watched a 22 episode anime. I mean sure it seems like I have with my blog post schedule, but in actuality it's been a minute. It felt really good to binge; it felt like I was going back to my roots as an avid anime enjoyer of sorts I guess. Haha, I don't want to say that it was honestly to fill a void in my heart at the moment...but it kinda was. I felt a little bit off-centered as I tend to feel at the beginning of most quarters or the start of something new in general. It's a little weird. But you came here for the Anime ATM not my rambling so:

{Spoilers, obviously}

Wow it's been so long since I've binged something and felt all of my feelings becoming an overwhelming barrage of thoughts and opinions that I documented throughout my time watching the anime. Perhaps I should journal it all down before starting my blog posts, but I kind of like how they're just a whirlwind of my thoughts as well.

A good place to start is always the "short" plot synopsis. So basically there's this boy named Kiriyama Rei and he's the fifth ever person to become a professional shogi player in middle school. On paper it seems like this amazing achievement until you unpack all the reasons why he became so great at this game. He actually has a lot of trauma from his parents dying at a young age, not having any relatives to take care of him, so he relies on his father's old shogi friend to take him in as his shogi apprentice and his foster son. His father's friend Kouda asked Kiriyama if he loved shogi more than anything, and to avoid getting put into an orphanage he lied and said yes. And all throughout the show you get glimpses of this little boy that's fighting for his life, doing anything he can to survive. And it's really sad when you think about this little boy that played shogi just to spend bonding time with his dad and ending up playing shogi as a way to survive. It doesn't make it any better that because of Kiriyama's intense shogi training that he surpasses Kouda's blood related children and makes their relationship even more strained. And it's not like Kiriyama doesn't feel bad about this. The real kicker is when he talks about how he broke that family. How he was the magpie's offspring that was born into the wrong nest and killed off the parents' real chicks. That was the real sinker right there. I can't even imagine how it would feel like to believe that you've ruined someone else's family for your own survival.

And it's this constant question to Kiriyama, at least for me, of if he actually really loves shogi or if this is the only way he can survive? Throughout the show he encounters so many different people who all have their lives impossibly entangled with shogi. All of these men are professional players that go through their troubles all linked to this strategic game. Some of them want to bring honor to the small towns they came from, others have dealt with physical ailments from the stress caused by the game, and others still are trying to keep their rankings to maintain face after all of these years of competition. It's hard to describe or encapsulate even in this limitless blog post that I'm writing, all of the stories that were told throughout these 22 episodes. Yes, most of it was focused around this lonely, broken boy Kiriyama, but it was also just beyond him. It was beyond shogi. It was honestly so many twists and turns and switch in tone from one of trauma and somber reality to happy and comedic times that I felt like I got whiplash from how fast it changed from one to the other. In fact, at times I felt like the transition between the two was too jarring, and I'm not sure if that was really the aim of the tone shifting so fast. However, it was definitely memorable.

I would compare this show to Your Lie in April in terms of how the trauma follows the main protagonist and weighs him down at times. This was definitely a lot more sad because Kiriyama was outcasted by his classmates in school and also had to deal with the eluded to trauma inflicted by his foster sister, but it was the same tone of pain caused by inescapable circumstances. It was also like Chihayafuru. There was of course the sports aspect of the show with the constant rounds of lots of jargon that I didn't understand. Don't expect to walk away from this show knowing how to be a professional shogi player (or maybe that's just me and you'll really walk away an expert) because they definitely don't give you step by step instructions on how everything works. They do give you lots of interesting strategies and even a cat illustrated book on all of the different pieces and shogi basics, but not a whole lot. Although maybe if you already know how to play chess it'd be easier to learn shogi? It was also like Chihayafuru in terms of the tournament style and sometimes how these competitions were portrayed with it not just being able the game, but also the training and camaraderie that surrounds the whole show, although perhaps less so in this show because there's no team aspect to it.

There is definitely something to be said about the motif of water throughout the show. I'm not really sure what to make of it. At times seeing the water appear during the rounds inside of Kiriyama's head it was almost suffocating. In fact, most of the time it was meant as a tool to convey how he couldn't breathe inside the round or how overwhelming it was. And they often did kind of random zoom ins of his beverages or of anyone's beverages really which was interesting. Not super sure why they did that. But I think these kinds of engaging scenes where it wasn't just shogi pieces on a board being moved around and losing me because I actually don't know anything about this game. Instead it was more of an atmospheric thing that allowed anyone to be enraptured by the tone of the show and what was going on. And this was much appreciated for someone with actually no idea how to play the game :')

As someone that is constantly found watching slice of life, I thought it was only fitting that I also talk about how I found the slice of life portion to be. Like I said above, sometimes the transition between the two sides of the show with the seriousness of shogi on the one hand and the domestic scenes of the Kawamoto household was too startling. There was no easy transition between the two, and maybe those sweet slice of life moments are meant as a chaser for the bitterness of Kiriyama's life. Like little splashes of sunlight to an otherwise gloomy day. And honestly some of these moments with Kiriyama at the Kawamoto's house were so heartwarming. Like when he was sick and they took him to their house to nurse back to health. And how he got to experience what it felt like to live in a really warm household just like a kotatsu. At the same time though, it wasn't completely unrealistic. The Kawamoto family welcomed him in, but it was definitely not a parasitic relationship with them just giving and giving without Kiriyama ever giving back. He gave them a welcome reprieve from some of the heavier stuff like dealing with the deaths in their family during Obon and someone to care for. And Kiriyama got to experience a warm family, although he was scared of breaking their family like he thought he did to his foster parents which is really sad. I wish I could go in there and talk some sense into that boy that what he was doing was perfectly fine and that he deserves to be loved too. I love all of their little moments together with the cats getting voiced as well hehe. And Momo is absolutely adorable with her child's innocence. Like when they were trying to come up with new product ideas for their traditional Japanese confectionery store and they really wanted to know what flavor she wanted as daifuku flavoring and she said gum. I couldn't stop laughing honestly.

Maybe I also felt like I resonated with the Kawamoto sisters because I have two younger sisters of my own. So it was kinda like a reflection of my own family? And seeing Akane's silent maturity and Hina's awkward moments as a middle school girl in love really reminds me of how my younger sister who's around the same age as Hina is going through that and how many parallels there are between the two of us.

Can you tell that I really enjoyed this anime? Haha while I did think that there were definitely some places where I felt like there was somewhat of a disconnect, overall it was an amazing experience. Hopefully I have time to watch the second season before I forget the characters and this story line. Ugh it's been a while since I've felt this way about an anime and it feels really good to be honest to watch something and feel on fire to review it. Yeah. So there's that. Obviously there's a lot to unpack from this anime like why it's called March Comes in Like a Lion (because it's a proverb apparently) or about his school life or his mental state or how wack his sister is. Yeah it's a lot. But that's all for now!

Anime ATM 82 Aggretsuko

In the span of a single day, two people recommended this show to me. When the first person did I didn't give it a lot of thought. He didn't go into a whole lot of detail about it and most of what he says, if not all, goes in one ear and out the other. The other person was my dear Canadian. Her opinion meant a lot more so I put it on my list to watch. I didn't mean to binge watch it, but it was all too easy. Midterms? What are those? I don't know them. I mean, the season is only 10 episodes and each one is 15 minutes, less if you skip the OP and the ED. So it's not really that bad, or so I'm trying to persuade myself.

{LOL it's slice of life, you know the drill, no spoilers}

I didn't really want to admit that those people were right when they said I would really enjoy this anime or that the main character reminded them of me...but they were kind of right. Retsuko is truly a relatable protagonist. She's not perfect by any means and she's quirky too. She's just trying to make her way through life without too much disturbance. On the outside, Retsuko looks like your average corporate office worker, a real career woman in the accounting department. The only real notable thing about her is that she's a bit of a pushover. But you soon realize that underneath that sweet and tolerable exterior lies a death metal loving alter ego. She uses this singing and the karaoke place she frequents as her sanctuary from all of the expectations people have of her. In that kind of business setting you're forced to conform and go with the flow, but Retsuko finds this kind of thing unbearable. The show mainly focuses on her and her struggle with her job and love life.

Along the way you can experience her interactions with the people around her and how they all have pretenses that they hide behind. A good example is the women power duo of the company, Washimi and Gori. On the outside they look like total girl bosses, walking around the company always looking like they've got something important to go to. In actuality it's tiring for them to constantly have this image and it's comforting yet disconcerting to know that even these untouchable and super cool people also have to play a role to fit into this office persona. Like Gori is actually a super awkward person, but she can't really show it at work because she's forced to have this professional attitude. Like sure it's work, but it's also kind of sad that you can't be yourself. Honestly I'm really happy that Retsuko found friends in those two. They're like A-1 supporting characters.

Speaking of supporting characters, Retsuko starts off the show with her two friend Fenneko and Haida. Honestly Fenneko is super funny and quirky. She's lowkey me when she doesn't want to go to the mixer, but ends up going and finding out that it's actually super fun. And she's also me when she knows something and makes that really funny and annoying fake laugh. Like Fenneko is lowkey me if I didn't already relate so much to Retsuko. And we already know that Haida is Retsuko's actual soul mate. When he's on the phone with Fenneko and worried about Retsuko being snatched by some other man, he's in his room with his leather jacket on and looks like a total rocker. That's when you know that the man Retsuko would be most compatible is the one right in front of her. I hesitate to say that he's the man that Retsuko needs because I think she's just chillin' at her own pace you know. She's 25 and she's got a stable career and great friends so there's no need for her to rush. Even though she contemplated marriage as just a way to escape from her insufferable job and how Director Ton and honestly everyone in the Accounting department take advantage of her, she still doesn't need a man I think.

There are a lot of quirky little bits and bobs throughout the show that make it really entertaining. Every time she breaks out into a death metal solo it makes me feel a little cathartic as well. It's definitely a very fun and entertaining show that I think a lot of people can relate to. I definitely recommend that you watch it if you're looking for a comedy/slice of life that's aimed, I assume, more for an older audience that is working. Yep.

Alrighty now I'm off to study for my midterms. No screenshots again because it was on Netflix. Sorry y'all!

Anime ATM 80 Karakai Jouzu no Takagi

If you look at any list of anyone's top 10 shoujo anime I've probably watched it. And so I asked V what fluffy anime he's watched recently in order to perhaps satiate my need for fluffy things. In the process of watching this I realized that as much as I like shoujo and slice of life, I've been avoiding shows with actual plot which is rather disappointing. So I'll probably watch something with actual substance one of these days. Who knows when though because school is becoming more of a chore T^T

{Once I finished writing this I realized how much it starts repeating when all I review is slice of life. RIP}

{LOL no spoilers bc slice of life}

This show is definitely a blend of Nichijou and Momofuri. It's got that playful and innocent nature that is most of Momofuri, while still having a toned down version of the eccentric nature of Nichijou. The show revolves around two groups of people in middle school. One of them is a boy and a girl, Nishikata and Takagi and the other is a trio of friends Sanae, Mina, and Yukari. Sanae, Mina and Yukari portray more of the traditional slice of life, comedy, and school life aspect of the show. They are often the comedy relief of the show and are often doing random things, mostly at Mina's expense. The three of them have a timeless quality that you can find steadfast through the genre.

The more interesting aspect of this show I found was the dynamic between Nishikata and Takagi. Takagi incessantly teases Nishikata in and out of class. At one part it gave me a little bit of Tonari no Seki kun vibes when Nishikata was making a jack-in-the-box to try and shock Takagi, only for it to backfire in his face quite literally. Takagi often takes advantage of how easy it is to read Nishikata and uses that as well as his short-sightedness to prank him. As someone older than these kids and seeing the antics of middle schoolers it's easy to see how Takagi is more mature and definitely likes Nishikata, whereas Nishikata doesn't really understand his feelings and instead focuses on trying to oust Takagi at her game of teasing him. That's basically the whole series. It's a beautiful thing really, to see their friendship grow and subtly progress throughout the show. 

One thing I find funny is that usually they're in English class when all of this happens. And a bulk of the show actually happens before and after school with Nishikata and Takagi walking together. And it's also funny seeing the two sides of middle school life, the kind of romantic life with teasing the people you like and also the childish fun that you have with your friends. It's pretty nostalgic thinking back to those middle school days.

Overall, if you're looking for a fluffy 12 episode anime this is it. It's got a lot of doki-doki moments, as well as, ironically, a shoujo parody inside, which is pretty funny considering this definitely has shoujo vibes. Or perhaps it isn't shoujo since it's from Nishikata's perspective, but instead in a more general sense it's just romantic. It's also relatable and heartwarming all at once. Just listen to the OP and if you're anything like me you'll probably be hooked. Fingers crossed anyways that you enjoy~

Me thinking about everything I've ever wasted time on. Honestly Mina is me. She's the type of person to try something new and it usually turns of disgusting just for the experience. :( whenever I order a new drink it usually turns out disgusting and sad, but it was an interesting experience I can never get back, which in its own way is valuable as well (me trying to justify buying so many expensive drinks or clothing that I do not enjoy but like trying lol)

RIP when people catch you doing embarrassing things and commence teasing you about it for about two thirds of an eternity

Mina's pretty dramatic, but at the same time this is really relatable. I remember at the end of my summer break, as I was finishing packing for college I realized that summer break wasn't coming back, that even when I come back from college I'm just going to work and go to summer school in order to graduation, so it was a pretty sobering experience realizing that that was the end of basically my childhood. Not to be dramatic or anything, but in essence that's what happened. :( I miss being a kid.

I present to you: the Evolution of Takagi and Nishikata's Relationship (abridged)

It's kind of painful how clueless Nishikata is sometimes

I think it's cute how towards the end they started showing more of how Takagi felt. Because before we just had to sort of infer from the instinct that when a girl teases a guy at that age it's a good sign that she likes him, especially since she always talks to basically only him and knows him pretty darn well. But it's just super cute seeing her as well, that her heart is also racing and it's not just her playing with him, but also because she genuinely likes him as well.

Anime ATM 77 Little Witch Academia {First Cour}

So as I was buckling down to write the review for LWA, V informed me that the first "season" as denoted on Netflix was actually just the first cour. Then I proceeded to google said "cour" and learned that the first twelve episodes are in fact just the first half of the season. But since I had already mentally prepared to write the review, I will just give my thoughts on the first half first. Although it does make sense that the first 12 were just the first half of one season because honestly the last episode didn't seem like an end, it seemed like just a continuation. Why does Netflix have to be so complicated? In all seriousness I picked up this series in the beginning because of V. He said it replaced his current faves, or something like that I forgot the exact wording verbatim hehe, and I was shook. If V says its good enough to rewatch and he had such strong feelings about the cast I knew I had to watch it!

{Spoilers}

I think what makes this series so great is the amazing set of characters. They're all a little bit quirky, but at the same time you've seen those kinds of characters time and time again which makes them seem familiar. For example I see a lot of Yui from K-On in Akko. They're both a bit ditzy and not that into studying the traditional way, but when they've got their mind set on something they don't let anything get in their way. I think this familiar character gives a lot of people someone to connect to. Not everyone can be perfectly selfless and intelligent like Diana, but I think many people can resonate with Akko and her awkward but lovable self. Additionally I love how hardworking and unconventional Akko is. She's not from a witch family and while that's already a big disadvantage, all she can think about is how she wants to become like her idol Shiny Chariot. Personally I can't relate to wanting to be exactly like another person, but the idea of aspiring to become something greater than yourself is a beautiful thing. She's not afraid to break or bend the rules a little bit either. She doesn't let the fear of failure get in the way of her trying things. Episode 12 is a good example of this. Even though she was stuck with the grossest job for the festival, she wanted to do something to help the cursed spirit. It was a desire born of the unselfish desire to cheer up the spirit. And what's even more phenomenal about her character is that she still wants to go ahead with her plan when everyone else thinks she should just stick with the traditional way. Her radical mindset is both an inspiration to the characters in the show, but radical and world-shaking, rule-bending people should be embraced and nurtured in this world. I think that they should be the example we follow in order to change the world to be better. I think I see many parallels between myself and Lotte. She's definitely a fangirl and someone that blends into the background more than anything, but she has firm beliefs and always wants to support her friends. Another interesting character is Sucy. Her obsession with mushrooms is definitely creepy and you get that sort of occult, creepy witch vibe from her, but the episode of Akko in Sucyland really solidified how great of a character Sucy is. In the episode Akko walks through Sucyland and sees all the aspects of Sucy that she didn't normally see. I think that's some great insight into how a lot of these characters and the people around you seem kind of plain or one dimensional, but that's just on the surface. Beneath that is really interesting and surprising aspects of people. I think my personal favorite Sucy was the spit on the world Sucy. It was such an interesting Sucy. I'd definitely recommend that you watch even just for the characters. They seem really familiar, but at the same time it's these types of characters that I find are often extremely relatable and easy to connect to.

Another enjoyable aspect of this show is the different arcs. I briefly touched upon the Sucy episode which was already a masterpiece in and of itself. I like how each episode is kind of its own entity. It's got its own standalone quality that makes it a joy to watch. Another episode I really like is episode 7. It's the episode where midterms are coming around and Akko realizes that the fish that everyone is looking at in class is actually the teacher. Honestly V told me about this episode before I even started the show and without even seeing it I was so hyped. It was super ridiculous, but that was actually the best episode in terms of comedy. It was just a series of mildly unfortunate events that all together accumulated into this great episode. I can't even put into words how truly entertained I was by that episode so I'll just have to highly highly recommend that you watch at least that episode. Another episode that satisfied my hankering for shoujo was episode 10. It was super cute with more slightly unfortunate events consisting of a cupid bee and the Akko x Andrew ship sailing. But honestly the part that had me super ecstatic was when all the guys that were stung by the cupid bee and fell in love with Lotte brushed her off and she was super sad and then Frank came by and swooped in like the amazing and underrated secondary character he is. Honestly I'm so passionate about Lotte x Frank you don't even understand. The ships in this show are real and I'm very moved by them actually. You know when the characters are so cute and so precious that you just want the absolute best for them? My favorite pastime is to root for imaginary characters :').

One thing that almost slipped my mind about the universe of LWA is the role that witches play in this world. They're not revered anymore and magic is starting to fall out of favor in lieu of technology. The school is starting to run out of money which is the whole reason why they decided to accept Akko in the first place. But in fact Akko could be the second coming of the golden magical era. Perhaps she and Diana will band together in an effort to revive magic. One thing I'm worried about though is that if they do end up doing that, what if magic just becomes a parlor trick or something for entertainment? Why can't witches do magic without the sorcerer's stone anymore? It's definitely food for thought and I don't really know what to think. It could be due to the fact that I'm running on not that much sleep because I have zero self control, or because my analytical brain is being drowned out by my animal instinct to just feel distressed and drown in the stress that I brought upon myself. Who knows?

OMG and the episode with Lotte and Night Fall. The Twilight ripoff. LOOOL. Honestly I think if I was more observant then I would be able to see more references heh

And so that was my short little blurb on LWA first cour. I will be back with the full review probably in the next week, possibly two weeks. Overall I'm sure you can tell how absolutely precious this show was. I've got a lot more to say on characters like Diana and Chariot and the whole universe they're in, but I think I'll save that for when I've finished the whole thing. V says the Diana arc is really interesting and will give me a 180 on my opinion about her character and I can't wait. So instead of closing with my final remarks, I'll just say that this was a great start and it'll be bittersweet to finish. I'm not like V, I don't usually rewatch because there's so many things I've yet to watch. What can I say? I'm a novelty hunter.

Disclaimer: The screenshots you're about to see are from V and they seem lowkey blurry but I appreciate that he let me use them. TY V :)))))))))))))

Wow it's me!

From the funniest episode in the series. The face of regret.

Haruhi Suzumiya is that you?

And this was the best shoujo episode. TY again V

Anime ATM 76 Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun

I find that a good portion of my life is spent saying no to people. I say no when they want to go out because of my social anxiety, I say no when they want to play sports because I'm afraid of looking like a fool, I say no when they recommend me anime because I know I shouldn't watch more or it doesn't sound all that appealing to me, but then I end up, for one reason or another, watching it. It's a vicious cycle that I'm trying to ease out of. I'm trying to say yes to more things. I'm trying not to get too in my head about whether people view me a certain way. It's definitely a process. There's some days when I wake up and I'm like wow I'm a terrible person with no good points, but honestly I'm so blessed to even have these thoughts. I'm blessed that I have the time to think about myself, to think about something beyond my survival. I'm so extremely blessed and to think less of that is ridiculous. 

On another note, one thing I'm particularly blessed for is the conversations I've been able to have in college. Because everyone has so much to say. Everyone has such an interesting story and so many layers to them and are so introspective and open to share parts of their souls or their opinions and to justify them that it makes me really appreciate the higher education system which wants you to be a little bit more introspective. But more than that, it's the people that have come into my life and opened up a line of communication, those are the people that make me feel truly honored to have such friends. It's interesting how we can have a lot of different views on certain things, but at the same time they're all so open to hearing opinions and justifications of the other side. I think there's something really beautiful about that.

LOL wow maybe I should just start a lifestyle/introspection blog instead. JK you came here for the animu and the animu I shall review~

{Spoilers}

Originally I put this on my to-watch list because I saw the clip of Umeya quitting judo to pursue his interest in Gotou. It wasn't that big of a deal, but I guess in my mind I thought it would be more of a rom-com? And there definitely are some scenes that could be considered rom-com or at least a parody of it, but for the most part it's just comedy. It's this great sports anime that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's got a variety of people and I love how it doesn't focus just on Aoyama. In fact, if anything, Aoyama is the reason why you start the show, and then as you see all the different episodes featuring different people and the comedic bits they throw in you start to further understand why it's a great anime and why you should keep watching.

Just to further elaborate on my favorite aspect of this anime, or most anime I guess, characters, I really like how ridiculous they all are. They're all super unexpected and a bit bizarre, but if they didn't have such eccentric characters it wouldn't be the same. To start off with the guy who's name is in the title, Aoyama is a complete germophobe. In all the scenes you see him constantly cleaning everything until it's sparkling. He hates people touching him and he hates getting dirty, two things that are inevitable when you play any sport. 

However, in his heart of hearts he can't give up soccer. 

And it's really sweet. Because he's famous for the last five minutes of the game when he loses all inhibition and sacrifices his cleanliness for his desire to win. And while this explanation seems like he's completely self-absorbed, or not as connected to his teammates, what he lacks in physical connection to his team he makes up in his perceptiveness. He can see when his team is feeling down and does whatever he can to increase the morale of his team. In that way it makes him that much more of a complex and admirable character that doesn't leave his team behind in order to win. Maybe it's because of the team aspect of soccer, but Aoyama is an empathetic boy that just happens to show that he cares in a different way. It's also revealed in episode 7 that Aoyama does want to touch people and live a normal life, but he just can't because of his germophobic tendencies. This gave his character so much depth and honestly made me a little bit too sad. Like he wants so much to live a normal life, but he just can't because the world is too dirty. But having a germophobe character is still pretty funny, not to make light of people that do live like that, I'm sure it's a super high stress mindset of everything being unclean and it'd probably distract you from living a "normal" life, but some of the aspects of his character are so ridiculous. Like the reason he came to Fujimi High School was because of the white uniforms and the toilets.

Speaking of ridiculous characters, actually that's not even a good segue because they're literally all ridiculous, is Zaizen. He's our resident rich, spoiled boy. Going off of the OP it seemed like there'd be this really deeply rooted rivalry between Zaizen and Aoyama, but surprisingly there wasn't. Sure there were times when Zaizen would criticize Aoyama for being a useless germophobe, but Aoyama was also the reason they had a chance to progress farther in the soccer competition than ever before. Zaizen is actually a pretty big softie. He gave up the number 10 jersey to Aoyama which I'm sure took a great deal of selflessness, plus the fact that he's also a little bit of a tsundere also makes things a bit more interesting. 

Another funny thing about Zaizen is his family. His dad literally sees money as no object, like he would've paid the soccer coach, who by the way is such a closet soccer anime otaku and doesn't get enough screen time, just to put his son on the starting eleven. And the whole training camp episode was completely and utterly ridiculous, but also tons of fun because of Zaizen and his extra af family. I also really appreciated the small detail of Zaizen always slipping up when referring to his dad. Like he would always start off saying Papa and then revert to old man, which is both funny that he had to put up a cool facade in front of his teammates, but also ridiculous.

Probably the most ridiculous part of Zaizen's character is his mom. Like the way he described her made her seem like she was dead, but actually she was doing charity work for 5 years. Like who is this woman?

Yet another ridiculous character was Umeya. This dude trained his whole life to become a judo champion. And then overnight decides that he wants to be a part of the soccer club over a girl. Who is this man?

And it's so sweet because he understands that Gotou can't love him right now because her heart belongs to Aoyama and instead of being bitter about it and trying to sabotage her love for Aoyama, instead he becomes her wingman. His ultimate goal is to wait it out and for her to eventually fall in love with him which I can see happening, albeit it is a bit of a long-term goal, but it's still pretty sweet. Or maybe I just like the idea of unwavering love. In any case it was a pretty romantic episode.

A particularly large part of the show was actually taken up by the infamous three stooges of the soccer club. They had a surprising amount of screen time, maybe because the creators realized how important goofy characters were in transforming this from a regular sports anime to a comedic sports anime. For example Tsukamoto and his butt keepie uppie seemed like a running gag joke, but it actually got really deep in the episode where he faced the school his middle school bully attended. He was brought back to his childhood trauma and faced this mental block. This could've been the end of Tsukamoto, but Aoyama saw this and used it as a chance to increase his morale. It's times like these that are really important in team sports anime, that raise the feeling of camaraderie and support among the characters. But beyond that they were honestly the most relatable of all the characters. They remind me of me and my friends. Especially the last picture. That's us dissociating.

I saved my absolute favorite to last. I love Gotou Moka. First of all I don't think I've watched another anime where there's a girl named Moka. The name is so cute. I really like how she's kind of creepy, but in an endearing way. Like she got all these tools to unlock the soccer club's clubroom just to clean it and help out Aoyama. The way she works so hard for Aoyama and just wants him to do well is super cute and you can't help but root for her too. But I think my favorite part about her is how she looks super cute and when you see her around Aoyama she's a little shimmering star and then when people threaten Aoyama or do stupid stuff she pulls out the bat with nails, flowers and kittens on it. Like it's actually the best thing. I love how her character has the quality of duality. Like she makes these cute little stuffed animals and is a super kindhearted person, but she's also not a pushover. She knows what she believes in and she's just the best.

Something that made the show extra comedic and easier to take lightly was how often and easily the characters would transition from regular to chibi. It's hard to take them seriously when they look so cute and pudgy. That was pretty random, but I also think it was a good decision to make stylistically to convey the fun, lighthearted feeling that this series exudes. 

If you haven't figured out by now, this show is driven by characters. There is somewhat of an underlying plot of them wanting to get past the preliminaries and maybe even to nationals, but that's kind of lost in everything else. There's definitely a diverse cast and you won't get bored of seeing them do dumb stuff. I could go deeper into each of the characters, but honestly I think you'd benefit more from just watching it. Even if you don't really like sports anime or you think that sometimes the gay ships are too much for you, I think this one has enough slice of life and comedy to change your mind a little bit about sports anime. Not to say that this is like your usual sports anime because it most definitely isn't, but it's still a nice way to dip your toes in the water. Overall it was a great season of a new twist on a sports anime that I enjoyed. The art was spectacular and the OP was super artsy and had a great mood and feeling to it. The ED is a bit more of an acquired taste wit the vintage kind of art style. I know I missed a lot like the mangaka or the fellow clean freak, but I never said I was comprehensive. Teehee~

Some more side characters with interesting quirks lol

I love how they felt the need to add these disclaimers. Like I'm definitely gonna ride my bike like these people now because I saw it in a show

There are so many ridiculous things going on here. Like the three stooges spying on them. Or Umeya making the victory symbol as if Aoyama wouldn't see it. Or the judo captain with some cloth to blend into the wall?

Aoyama is a man of few words which is pretty funny. Like it makes you appreciate when he speaks a lot more. But my friend and I were also talking about whether or not we thought that the voice actor was particularly suited to him and couldn't really come up with a consensus. What are your thoughts? Peep that love triangle though!

And I'll leave you with this sequence because it's perfection. I'm obsessed with the cool tones they used for this show overall. Beautiful aesthetic oml

Anime ATM 70 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya + a little food for thought

Interrupting regular broadcasting with a little introspective blurb 

1/2/18: It's the start of a new year. I schedule these ahead of time for the sake of consistent weekly uploads, but honestly I have my ups and downs in terms of the amount of anime/manga I intake. Lately I haven't been watching much because even though I'm on break from school (technically, lol fuego) I've been working 6 days a week some days and the rest of the time I'm trying to help out around the house and spend quality time with my parents. Going away for college made me really appreciate all the good food, listening ears, and overflowing generous hearts my family and friends have, as cheesy as that sounds. It's a good thought to keep in mind: no matter how rough life gets, there's always someone (or a couple someones if you're lucky) there to cheer you on and give you lots of love. Gah I'm grinning as I write this. Who am I? When did I become so cheesy?

And we're back! So a bit of background, a couple years ago, I wanna say like two or three years back, I picked up this anime to watch as a recommendation from my friend. I think I had just finished Golden Time and was looking for a new one without any real notion of what I wanted my next watch to be. He said that it was really good with an interesting plot and I tried to get into it. Maybe it's because aliens and the supernatural don't normally pique my interest, but I never got into it. I watched until the infamous endless eight and couldn't deal with it anymore. It didn't occur to me that you could just skip through the endless eight and jump straight to when things got different back then so I just dropped it after that. That was one of the only anime I ever left uncompleted...until now. 

I picked this one back up again because I think I'm stuck in some sort of KyoAni funk. Literally everything I watch is KyoAni; I swear I am the most hardcore softcore anime watcher with not even a bit of exaggeration. Well, okay, it was partly because of KyoAni, but mostly because my friend V was watching it and had only amazing things to say about it. And that made me feel like I was missing out on something amazing. So I picked it back up. Side note, I remember when V used to not like anime that much, but he's slowly becoming a super big anime watcher. Seeing his growth is really interesting and I wonder if he would start a blog as well? :3 He's also the only reader on this blog anyways teehee~ 

{Spoilers?}

One thing I'd like to note as a little tidbit is that there's a difference between the order that the episodes were originally aired and the order in which they come chronologically. Which begs the question if the ending which was a nice satisfying shutting of a book was the real ending...or is there no real ending because Haruhi never wanted there to be an ending to her story and her SOS Brigade in the first place? In general I think there's a lot of potential that I'm sure has already been thoroughly sifted through in terms of conspiracy theories and hints that were dropped that indicate the real end of the story, if Haruhi was really the god of the whole world, or something like what happened to the future Mikuru? There are a lot of questions that were left unanswered which can be mulled over more in some sub reddit thread I'm sure. 

I think in terms of many anime nowadays it's easy to compare them to this or that anime because of whatever character or whatever plot device they use, but something about The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya makes it such a standout that you can't really compare it to any other anime. Maybe it's the mix of slice of life and supernatural, but that was also done by Kotoura-san. Maybe it's the manipulation of time, that's been done by multiple anime, that's literally a whole genre of time travel. Maybe it's the wild girl who does what she wants, Chuunibyou. Maybe it's the lackluster MC who's kind of bland to the point where he's only ever known as Kyon, Oregairu. So as you can see there's a lot of similar anime, but something about the mix of all the characters and all the quirky arcs make it hard to truly say it's similar to any other anime without compromising some part of the series which makes it so special. 

Something I'd like to point out though that's really annoying is Kyon's obsession with Mikuru. Like sure she's lovable and clumsy, but he's such a teenage boy about it. She's cute and like a helpless little lamb at the mercy of Haruhi the wolf, but I thought the whole thing was a little baseless. Maybe Kyon was just being chivalrous or maybe it was puppy love. There's a whole list of reasons validating his crush, but in my opinion it was a bit unnecessary.

Let's talk arcs. These arcs were so bizarre I'd like to applaud whoever came up with them. Because they do follow some of the cliches that are found time and time again in school life/slice of life anime like the sports festival, the cultural festival, the summer club activities, and the everyday after school club activities where they drink tea (K-On!), but there's this deviation that they make, driven by Haruhi's spontaneous nature that makes it interesting to watch. I think the arcs and their almost random nature that keep you on your toes and keep watching. 

Haruhi herself is such a wild card. While Yuki and Koizumi are hard to read and just go with the flow, Haruhi fights the current and makes her own path. Whether she's really god or not is another story. Who knows if it's really her or the world was just meant to be like that? The chicken or the egg? She's extremely admirable because of her outgoing nature and how she doesn't care about what other people might think about her, but I don't think that's the only thing that makes her so interesting as a character. I think it's also because you can see how she's flawed and how she has her own weaknesses and quirks that make her such a multidimensional character that you can't help but watch and admire. 

In general this show kept me on my toes and while I wouldn't say it's my favorite or I'd keep watching it I'd definitely say this is a unique watch with a lot of ideas that keep the wheels in your head turning just thinking about them. There's a lot of conspiracies to be made. I think something that would be fun would be watching it with your friends and talking about what you think about certain concepts. Like an anime watching club version of a book club? 

I remember when V was watching this and he flipped out over this part. If he hadn't told me about that too I'd be likewise shook, but I was expecting it as part of the endless eight.

I didn't come here for deep thoughts about my existence on this planet??!!

The Nichijou cat?

I sent this to V so many times I think he hates it now

Is it a frog or a rabbit?

This was a nice, peaceful ending. It was a satisfying end in a wholesome, heartwarming way.

Anime ATM 68 Shokugeki no Souma Season 2

Don't you just love when you forget you've watched an anime and then you rewatch it and it seems really familiar but you just continue watching it all the way through and go "oh yeah, I did watch this!"? Because that was me. I forgot that I finished watching it because I remember starting to watch it, but had no idea how it ended.

{Spoilers??? Idk man this is a cooking competition bildungsroman so take it as you will}

Anyways to summarize this whole season it would just be a continuation of Souma's growth. And the finale of the Autumn Tournament. What made it so interesting to watch though was how intense those food reactions were. I forgot how crazy it got and so when it got to that point I was like "oh yeah, that happened." Maybe my memory is just bad, but it did enhance my rewatching experience so there's a plus. So plot-wise, nothing much happened. I think the real star was the character development.

Obviously this is all based around Souma and his personal growth, but it also has a reflection into the lives of other chefs, or just other people in general. I think that this show sends out a really important message that just happens to be about food. Certainly there's a lot of good food techniques you can pick up from this and inspire a few people to take up cooking as a profession or to learn to cook some good quality food for themselves, but it's also the learning process. Each and every one of them has something to learn and glean from one another. They all have their specialties, but they also incorporate other people's specialties when necessary to diversify their food. I think this show has a clear message about not just food and the general blanket statement that satisfies the definition of a bildungsroman, but also the growth that occurs with the hunger to learn. A lot of times I think we think about learning and growth and improvement as "Oh I can do this, but I'll never be as good as Person X over there" and that mindset of comparison is so detrimental to the learning process. That's why it's good to exemplify an underdog, a diner boy, someone who everyone disregards as worthless because he doesn't have a pedigree. Souma's not that guy that's been necessarily shaped into a winner, but it's his hunger to learn and improve that's been pushing him and helping him through his failures. And it's his general charisma, his eagerness and friendliness that are tools that he utilizes to make the most out of his experiences at Totsuki.

I could say a lot more about the other characters and each of their individual quirks, but honestly I think the main takeaway is to aspire to be like Souma. Especially now that I'm at university I can definitely say that the hunger to learn is the best motivation. Stay hungry, stay curious.

Would it be a season without some Erina angst?

Do you see what I mean by ridiculous? I can't get the suppon burger out of my head like I don't know if I want to try it but ???

Smol Souma when everyone underestimates him :(

Okay I know they're supposed to be kinda enemies since they're all vying for the elite 10, but they're so cute as a lil trio of friends

Me whenever my friends ask me how school's going

Me in any social interaction saying absolutely anything whatsoever

LOL "cheeky youngster style"

Time to go watch season 3 buh-bye!